1.
Introduction
Organization of The Quality of Life Section
The chapters in the Quality of Life section of the ACERP Report describe five of the background papers used by the Technical Committee to determine the relative rankings of the 14 environmental issues and concerns.
Chapter 2 describes three studies that analyze the impacts on quality of life criteria based on three of the environmental issues. These quality of life criteria are:
o Recreational impacts
o Social impacts
o Economic impacts
Chapter 3 describes two studies that focus on environmental issues, and analyzes them based on the quality of life criteria. These issues are:
o Stratospheric ozone depletion
o Degradation of the built and cultural environment
Chapter 2 Summary
Recreational Impacts
This report examines the criteria of recreational impacts and reviews existing studies to assess the quality of recreation areas in Arizona and how it might be affected by the environmental issues.
It also discusses the importance of recreation to Arizona's economy and way of life.
A 1994 state study indicated that 94% of residents felt parks and recreation areas were important to their lifestyles. As the report states, from the perspective of the outdoor recreation research community, each of the environmental stressors ultimately should be judged as possessing a high threat to the quality of the recreation experience.
However, from a larger context of the relative contributions of all stressors to Arizona life quality, only certain stressors emerge as salient factors. The key factors include:
o Degradation of the built and cultural environment
o Surface water contamination
o Alteration of ecosystems
o Air pollution in urban areas
Social Impacts
This report examines the criterion of social impacts and reviews several Arizona case studies.
Factors that can affect social impacts include attitudes, beliefs, past experiences, and perceptions once the problem has surfaced.
o Examples included in the study are waste tire fires, the Quality Printed Circuits industrial fire, effects of urban sprawl, water contamination in Maryvale, water quality problems with the Central Arizona Project water in Tucson, the Tri-City Landfill, and the beach closure problems in Lake Havasu City.
In most of these cases there were temporary negative social impacts, and some impacts actually led to greater community cohesion, because neighbors rallied together to tackle adversities.
Economic Impacts
This report provides a summary of possible economic costs associated with the environmental issues.
The research used methods such as damage costs, costs for averting risks, willingness to pay studies, and analysis of health dollars associated with chronic illness and early deaths.
A paragraph on each environmental issue summarizes available data and provides a ranking of economic significance.
Chapter 3 Summary
Cultural Resources
Cultural resources, including historic buildings, Native American sites and cultural landmarks are included in the Degradation of the Built and Cultural Environment issue.
This report discusses threats to cultural resources, including vandalism, tourism, development, neglect, fire, and erosion.
It also outlines factors that affect the risk, such as:
o Type of cultural resources, such as cliff dwelling vs. historic building
o Cultural setting, such as urban vs. rural
o Physical setting
o Land ownership
Ozone Depletion
This report describes the nature of ozone, why it is important in our atmosphere, what causes ozone depletion, and what current scientific research tells us about the problem.
The report indicates that there is clear scientific evidence of the problem and its globally destructive impacts. However, Arizona's distance from the polar regions and the significant international regulations should yield only minor impacts to this state.
With current trends, it is expected that the destruction of the ozone layer will peak around the year 2000 and then decline. The subsection analyzes ozone depletion based on the criteria, and provides a high, medium, or low risk ranking.